The Seychelles: Country Profile

Paradise Islands

Prosaically speaking, the Seychelles are a group of islands of either granitic or coraline origin, scattered across the north western Indian Ocean. In more poetic terms, they have been described as both 'Paradise' and the 'Garden of Eden'. Prosaic or poetic, however, the Seychelles are indeed blessed.

There are 115 of these islands, spread over some 400,000km2 (154,000 miles2)of ocean but covering a surface area of just 450km2 (174 miles2), including enclosed lagoons - a little over one percent of the national maritime zone. And they are indeed widely scattered. The two furthest islands, to the south west and the north east, are 1,245 kilometres (774 miles) apart. But just as they are widely scattered, so are they remarkably different in nature.

The granitic islands, those in the main or inner group, are a rather enigmatic remnant of the once super-continent of Gondwanaland, a few spikes of rock left to remind us that Africa and India were once joined. These islands range in size from Mahe, the capital island 27 kilometres (17 miles) long and a third of that at its widest, to islets consisting of a towel-sized beach, a single chunk of weathered granite, and a palm tree or two.

The bigger islands are indeed spikes of rock - Mahe rises to over 900 metres within about three kilometres of the beach - and they are a jumbled profusion of a staggering array of tropical vegetation, from delicate frangipani and orchids to carnivorous pitcher plants and towering pines and palms.

The more distant islands are coraline, low (no more than a few metres high), sandy shelves covered with scrubby plants and palms. Some are classic atolls, coral reefs encircling lagoons, while others, like Aldabra, have developed weird, eroded, moonlike forms. From a faunal point of view, the Seychelles are just as spectacular, but top marks must go to the bird life.

The avid 'twitcher' needs to come well armed with binoculars and bird books, for here is one of the rarest birds in the world, the Seychelles magpie robin, and other rarities like the Seychelles warbler; the black parrot (the national bird), found only in the Vallee de Mai in the exotic Coco de Mer palm (a World Heritage Site); the black paradise flycatcher; the white-throated rail; drongo and bush warbler (endemic to Aldabra, another World Heritage Site).

There are no fewer than 11 species and 17 sub-species of birds endemic to the islands, including the Seychelles scops owl, a bird so rare that no nest has ever been found. But if it's numbers rather than exclusivity that you want, then the Seychelles have some of the biggest and most famous sea bird colonies in the world: sooty terns, lesser noddies, great and lesser frigate birds, masked and brown boobies.

There are also red- and white-tailed tropic birds, Audobon's and wedge-tailed shearwaters, the fairy tern (the symbol of Air Seychelles), and a veritable host of others. And there are specific islands renowned for good birding, like the rather obvious Bird Island (Ile aux Vaches), the first port of call of many migrant species from Europe and Asia.

There is Cousin and Curieuse and Fregate, all special in their way, and then there is Aride. The only way to get to Aride is by little boat, but the effort is worth it, as this is the most important conservation area in the Seychelles and, from an ornithological point of view, one of the most important in the world.

A few hours spent on Aride will offer one clouds of sooty and roseate terns, white- and red-tailed tropic birds, noddies, shearwaters and frigate birds, swirling over the steep cliffs that look out over a seemingly endless Indian Ocean. Islands are by very definition surrounded by sea, and this is another good reason to linger on the Seychelles.

Apart from the Aldabra group, which is a World Heritage Site but virtually inaccessible to all but the extremely well-heeled with time on their hands, there are a number of internationally important marine parks around the islands.

The most accessible is the St Anne Marine National Park off Mahe, a splendid excursion for diving, snorkelling, swimming, sunning and some remarkably good al fresco lunching. If you are even vaguely aquaphobic, there is a semi-submersible craft in which one can sit in comfort as a kaleidoscope of reef fish swim past or gaze in at you in goggle-eyed wonder.

On the other side of Mahe are the Baie Ternay and the Port Launay Marine National Parks, and off Praslin the Curieuse Marine National Park and the Cousin Island Special Reserve. Apart from the natural beauty of the reefs themselves, the seas are filled with an extraordinary abundance of species, from tiny swimming jewels to the great whale shark, the largest fish in the ocean.